The Return
by evieeden
Summary: Jacob tries to make it home in time for Bella's wedding. Advent story written for 1st December.


**Happy 1****st**** December everyone.**

**Welcome to the first instalment at this year's attempt to finally get all twenty-five stories posted this December. Last year, I was struck down two stories short, so fingers crossed that this year will be the time that I'm finally successful.**

**Big thanks should go in advance to idealskeptic and AlverdineFF because they're the ones who push me to get everything done this time of year, and because they're usually the ones who have to put up with my fic meltdowns.**

**Thanks for this story though go to kimmydonn and Withany, both of whom kindly set aside their Edward hats to beta this fic for me. Today's offering is a Jacob number, so I hope you all like it and thank you so much for reading.**

**I don't own Twilight. I just like to play in SMeyer's playground.**

**The Return**

There was nothing but pain, nothing but regret. He gave himself over to the wolf hoping the animal's mind would wipe his memory clean, but it didn't happen. His wolf wanted a mate, and not just any mate, it wanted Bella.

It wasn't going to happen.

Jake wanted her, but she still wanted the leech, so much that she was prepared to marry him. Jake had shown her that he loved her, that she loved him, but it wasn't enough.

_He_ wasn't enough.

So he ran and tried to bleed her out of his system as rocks and trees bit into his paws and skin.

But even as he ran, the same image kept flashing in front of his eyes.

That invitation. That _fucking_ invitation.

With its decoration and fancy lettering, there was nothing of Bella in that invitation. But he guessed there wasn't supposed to be. It wasn't about Bella, that invitation, not really. Sure it was her wedding, but that invitation was more about him and the leech, and the filthy bloodsucker getting the last blow in.

He had looked at it for only a moment, two at most, but the date was seared upon his brain and it was getting closer.

Bella would get married and then she would conveniently disappear and sometime later they would all get invited to her funeral, something extravagant and gaudy, just like Jacob knew this wedding would be.

She wouldn't be dead though. Not really. Her heart would no longer beat, but she wouldn't rest in peace underneath the earth.

She would still be walking around, talking...killing.

He squeezed his eyes shut, as if that would stop him imagining his best friend, the girl he loved, sickly pale, reeking, her eyes a brilliant red.

He opened his eyes again, scanning the surrounding trees. He should be more careful. He was a lone wolf out here, and if any leeches happened by he didn't want to be taken unawares.

The question now was whether he should stay far far away from that tiny corner of Washington and allow his sorrow to consume him, or whether to return home, to a Bella-less Forks and a life of patrols and ghosts.

If he returned now...

The last time he had ventured close to human habitation he'd worked out that there were two weeks until that fateful date, although he wasn't sure how much time had passed since then. Surely not more than a week.

As though he had already made a decision, his body automatically twisted so he was facing south, but his mind was still in turmoil. He wanted to see Bella. Hell, it might be the last chance he ever got to see her and he wanted to be able to see that blush that so easily rose on her cheeks, to see her stumble because her brain was always two steps ahead of her feet, to witness her smile one last time.

But he didn't want to see her marry his enemy, to see her throw away her life so casually.

If there was one last chance to hold her... if he could just hug her one last time, smell the clean, pure scent of her skin...

Would that be enough? Would he be able to let her go afterwards?

He didn't even know if she would want him at her wedding. It had been the leech and not Bella who had sent him the invitation, but even with that open offer he didn't know how welcome he would be.

His paws began to move forward as if they had a mind of their own, shifting from a slow walk to a loping run. Clearly he had already made his decision without even realising. He was going back to La Push and he was going to Bella's wedding.

Now he just had to make sure he got there on time.

He wasn't sure of his exact location, but he knew he was somewhere in Northern Canada, miles away from the reservation, especially as he was going to have to navigate around the towns and cities between here and home, keeping out of sight the entire time.

He picked up speed, pushing his body to the limit.

He was lucky that the wolf seemed to have some kind of inbuilt GPS pulling it back to the reservation and the rest of the pack. They were there now, in the back of his head again. For a while he had suppressed his human side and given into the wolf, and then he could only feel the presence of the other wolves. He knew that they talked to him, pleaded with him, shouted at him, but their words were indistinguishable. Now, as he ran back, the words and images floating through their minds began to clarify and grow louder.

Leah and Seth were on patrol one afternoon, the big sister trying to protect her little brother even though he could take care of himself. Quil flitted in and out of his consciousness, cracking jokes and teasing his fellow pack mates. Sam and Jared were there, calm and steady presences amongst the pack's general chaos. Paul blazed through his mind at least once. The heat of his anger stirred Jake to run faster.

He paused to rest occasionally, but could only sleep for a couple of hours at a time. He was exhausted, but he also knew that he could rest when he got back, after he had seen her again.

_Jake?_

A voice suddenly broke through his thoughts and his surprise at its clarity made him skid to a halt.

_Jake, man, is that you?_

He gave a quick glance around his surroundings, noting that he recognised them. Somehow he had made it across country to just east of Forks.

_Embry?_

There was evident relief in the voice that answered him. _Shit, dude. Where have you been?_

Jake started running again, the sound of his best friend pushing him along.

_Canada, mostly. I think._

_But you're coming back?_ Embry had clearly recognised his surroundings too.

_Yeah, I'm coming back_, he confirmed. The _wedding's today and I don't want to miss it._

_That's awesome_, Embry enthused. _Sam's going to be stoked that you're back. But I thought you must have heard before, the wedding..._

Bounding through the forest, Jake cut him off. He was close now, just past the Camerons' house.

_I need to shower and change, Em. I'll meet you there in half an hour._

_But..._

Jake phased, running the last hundred metres as a man. He had to make a quick dash across the backyard, seeing as his clothes had been torn from his body when he had first phased all that time ago, and he banged through the back door, wincing as it slammed into the opposite wall.

Sudden silence fell over the small red house and he realised that as he had crossed the yard, he had heard, but not registered, several voices coming from within.

"Wait here." A familiar female voice ordered, and then footsteps approached.

Jake fought the urge to sink into a defensive position. Living as the wolf for so long had left his instincts still a little more on the wild side. It was going to take some time to get used to being human again.

He relaxed when Leah appeared at the other end of the hallway, the familiar scent of pack soothing his wolf.

"Well, well, look what the wolf dragged in." His pack mate crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the door frame. "You took your sweet time getting back here." She scowled and then turned her head as the familiar squeak of his father's wheelchair came from behind her.

"Leah?"

"It's okay, Billy," she said. "It's just Jake."

"Jake?" His father's voice went from hopeful to angry in a second. "Jacob Ephraim Black! You get your ass in this room right now."

His father may not have been a wolf, but he could certainly bark out a command that Jacob felt compelled to follow.

He shot a desperate look towards his bedroom as he stumbled into the lounge. The longer this took, the less time he would get at the wedding...with Bella. He needed to shower, he needed to get dressed and he needed to get out of here as soon as he could, and his dad was deliberately holding him back.

Struggling to push down a snarl, he stormed into the room, past Leah, who had wisely stepped backwards out of the way...

And came face to face with Bella.

He pulled up short, his eyes fixed on her.

She was here. She couldn't be here.

She squeaked and spun around at the sight of him, clapping her hands over her face. Jake suddenly remembered a little too late that he was naked. The sight of the woman he loved, here, in his house, overcame any embarrassment though and he took a step towards her.

"Bells?"

"Hold up there, son." Billy reached out and gripped his arm, stopping him from moving any closer to her. His father glanced at both Leah – who was still leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, a smirk on her face – and Bella, who was savoiding looking at any of them. He heaved a sigh. "Go and have a shower, Jake, you stink, boy. And for God's sake, put some pants on. We'll talk after."

"But..."

He couldn't leave, couldn't take his eyes off her for a second. If he did then she might run off back to the leech and he'd never see her again.

His feet felt like they were stuck to the ground.

"Jake." His father sounded exasperated now. "Go and get cleaned up."

As if she sensed why he was so reluctant to leave, Leah reassured him in a low voice that only he could hear.

"She's not going anywhere. She never goes anywhere."

Finally reacting, Jake spun around and looked at her. "You'll keep watch?"

She pulled a face but gave a sharp nod. Jacob just had to trust that she would do as he asked and keep Bella from leaving before he got back.

He showered quickly, washing his hair and body with rough, jerky movements. From the amount of dirt running into the bottom of the tub, he could see why his father had been shocked by his filthy appearance, but at the same time he wanted to skip the scrubbing altogether and get back out into the house where he could see Bella.

The voices on the other side of the wall grew louder as another male joined them. Embry. No wonder he had turned up; Jake realised with a twist of his mouth that his friend had been trying to tell him earlier that Bella was in La Push and not at the wedding that Jake had been so desperate to get back for.

Which also raised the question of why Bella was standing in his father's house on the reservation, instead of at the altar at the Cullens'.

He couldn't work out what she was doing here – cooking dinner from the sound of it – and why she wasn't off playing happy families with her leeches.

Wanting answers, and deciding he was clean enough for now, he cut off the shower and grabbed a towel off the rail. Running it over his face, he frowned as Bella's scent rose off the fabric. Come to think of it, the bathroom was looking cleaner than it usually did with two men living in the house. Had she cleaned in here? From the smell of the towel, she'd definitely done the laundry at least.

When he staggered into his room for some clothes he found that she'd done a lot more than just the laundry.

His room was clean, all the clothes and car parts picked up off the floor, the windows cleaned and the bed made. Bella's scent was thick in here too.

He couldn't understand it.

Dressing quickly, he walked back out into the hall and then stopped. Sniffing the air, he turned towards the twins' old room and opened the door.

It too was clean, which he'd half-expected already, but it was also clearly being occupied, which he very much hadn't. Bella's scent was all over this room – the bed, the wardrobe, the bag by the side of the desk.

Was she staying here?

His mind whirring uncontrollably, Jacob stalked out of the room and back to the living room. It was empty when he got there, but the voices coming from the kitchen told him that everyone had relocated there.

"Jake!" Embry called through a mouthful of food, spotting him in the doorway. "I tried to talk to you..."

"Yeah, don't worry about it." He cut his friend off. "No harm done."

Embry shrugged and carried on stuffing his face, clearly glad that his duty was done and no more explanations were needed from him.

Billy and Leah were also eating, but were sneaking glances at him every other second. Bella wasn't looking at him. She was washing the dishes, her back to him. He could tell she knew he was there, staring at her, as her body had tensed up, her shoulders growing higher and higher.

"Jake." His father called his attention back to the people seated at the table. "Come and sit down. Have something to eat. There's a plate for you in the oven."

Jake shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

It was a lie and everyone knew it. He was starving. But there were other things more important than food going on at the moment, so his father let it slide.

"Well, how about you and Bella go and have a talk then and you can eat afterwards." Billy's voice grew sterner then. "But don't be thinking that you're getting out of a talk with me too, later."

Jake nodded and looked towards his best friend. She had paused in her task, but still didn't seem like she would look at him anytime in the future.

"Bella." Leah's touch on her arm made her jump. "Go talk with Jake. Embry and I'll clean up here."

Bella nodded and, taking a deep breath, finally turned around to face Jacob.

"Let me just grab a coat. I'll meet you out in the garage, Jake."

Shrinking past him in the doorway, Bella stumbled towards the twins' room, leaving Jacob feeling like he'd been dismissed. Following orders, he turned and headed for the garage.

Embry caught up to him halfway and clipped him around the head. Jake growled at him. His friend grinned back.

"Glad you're home, dude. We all missed you."

"Really?" Jake could think of several people who wouldn't be pleased that he had returned home, starting with the leech.

"Well." Embry shrugged. "Sam's going to be pissed for a while seeing as we've all had to cover for you while you've been away, but everyone else will be happy...ish."

"Wow, thanks," he said dryly.

"Speaking of, I should go let Sam know you're back. I came straight here from patrol and he's not going to want to be kept in the dark for long."

Jacob pulled a face. "I guess that's just another person that I'm going to have to have a 'talk' with."

They reached the garage and Jacob finally turned to face his friend.

"Seriously, dude, I don't get it. What happened with Bella and the bloodsucker and the wedding? Why is she not getting married right now, but walking around my kitchen and living in Beck and Rach's room?"

The easy-going smile on Embry's face fell. "I'm not sure I should be the one to tell you this," he said, unusually sombre. "I should probably leave you two to talk in peace anyway."

He clapped Jake's shoulder and then headed out. "I'll see you later. Wouldn't want to miss 'fun times with Sam and Jake.'"

Waving, he disappeared just as Bella arrived at the garage's entrance, wrapped in a heavy winter coat despite it being a relatively warm day. Smiling awkwardly, she perched on the beat-up sofa in the corner. It was a scene so familiar that for a brief second, Jacob could almost believe that he had fallen asleep, and that wolves and legends and vampires didn't exist, and it was just him and Bells drinking warm soda and kidding about as he worked on the Rabbit.

But in a blink that illusion was shattered.

"Jake..." Bella began.

"Why are you here?" It sounded harsher than he meant it, and Jake silently cursed himself. He tried again. "Bella...why are you here? Why aren't you getting married? I was trying to come back for the wedding..."

He stopped. Tears had begun to slowly drip down Bella's cheeks and she wiped them away impatiently.

"Bells..."

He gave into his instincts and sat down next to her, his arm around her shoulders, drawing her in to his body heat. She buried her face in his shoulder and cried, trying to explain through the tears.

"I was going to, but then it all got so out of hand and I didn't feel like any of it was mine anymore...and Edward was acting different, and he kept telling me what to do and not to do...and I was so worried 'cos you'd gone away and I didn't know where you were and then he told me...about the invitation."

He sucked in a sharp breath. That fucking invitation.

Bella raised her head and tried to wipe her eyes again, instead only succeeding in smearing her tears across her face.

"He was so pleased about it, so happy that he'd sent it to you, and I hated him for it. I called it off, Jake. There is no wedding, no me and Edward anymore," she finished dully.

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Bella had actually dumped Cullen. Left him because of that invitation. He wanted to jump for joy, to shout and howl his triumph. He may not have won the girl, but neither had the leech, and she would remain wonderfully, brilliantly human and alive like she always should be.

She was too sad though, the tears still running down her face. There was no triumph in that.

And she hadn't actually chosen him over the leech either, even if she was living in his house.

"How come you're living here on the reservation?"

Bella sniffled. "Umm, when I broke it off, the Cullens...well, Edward really, weren't very happy. I mean, he thought he was going to marry me and I suddenly turned him down so he wouldn't be," she rambled, "but he kept trying to talk to me, trying to get me to change my mind, I guess. You know Charlie can't keep him out, even though he tried."

Jake nodded in acknowledgement. Her father would have done his best to protect his daughter during the day, but with the bloodsucker's mind-raping ability there would be nothing to stop him from jumping through the window at night or cornering Bella when her father wasn't around.

"The pack." Bella's voice was roughened by her tears. "They've been so kind. Once Charlie told Billy what was going on, he spoke to Sam and he agreed that if I stayed on the Res for a while, they would look out for me."

"Sam agreed to that?"

That was a surprise. The last time he'd spoken to his Alpha, he hadn't had anything particularly good to say either about Bella or Jake.

Bella shrugged uncomfortably. "Not at first, maybe, but Billy persuaded him to come speak to me about it, and I think Leah talked to him on my behalf too."

"Leah?" The surprises kept coming.

Bella nodded and wiped her face with the back of her hand. "She understands, more than you'd think. We get along better now."

Jake didn't really know what to make of that so he just filed the information to one side of his brain for now to be considered later. It explained why the pack female had been in his house eating dinner though.

"So you're living here now?" Even seeing her so sad, he couldn't help the hopeful lilt to his voice. Even now, after everything that had happened, he still didn't think he could feel for anyone else what he felt for Bella.

Bella blushed. Clearly she had caught his meaning.

"Yes," she confirmed. "Just until the Cullens leave Forks. Sam's negotiating their departure with Carlisle at the moment, but from what they tell me, Edward's putting up some resistance to the idea."

Jake muttered something uncomplimentary about the leech under his breath, but from the frown on Bella's face, he knew she'd heard him.

"Anyway, I was going to be staying at the Clearwaters', but seeing as you were away and your dad needed help, I ended up coming here and staying in the twins' old room."

He snorted at the thought of his dad needing help. Sure, he didn't move around as well anymore, but he was perfectly capable of cooking his own dinner and taking his medication when he was supposed to.

Bella smacked him lightly on the arm. "Don't be like that. If I hadn't moved in, Billy would've still been living on takeaways and struggling."

Jacob pulled a face at that. "He's not supposed to eat crap and he knows it."

Bella gave a small smile. "I know he knows it, but he's like Charlie, they'd much rather order in than risk missing a second of the game to cook a meal."

"True," he agreed.

Silence fell between them, but now it wasn't as awkward as before.

"So you're staying here?"

"As long as you don't mind," she quickly reassured him. "If you do, I can go somewhere else."

"I don't mind!" He hurried to reassure her.

Bella blew out a relieved breath. "Good. Thanks. I like it here."

She smiled at him and he grinned back at her.

"I like you here too."

She shook her head. "Jake," she whined, "you've only just got back. You might hate having me here; I might cramp your style or something."

"Never," he said, determined she should understand. "You don't ever have to leave if you don't want to."

She turned to face him fully, coiling one leg underneath her, and studied his face, her fingers coming up to trace over his cheekbone and down his jawline. He froze at the feeling of her hands on his skin, hardly daring to breathe. Instead he searched her expression with his eyes, trying to work out what she thinking.

Slowly, carefully, she leaned forward and pressed her dry, chapped lips against his, once, twice. The third time, his brain finally kicked in enough for him to realise that she was kissing him and that he should probably kiss her back.

It wasn't at all like their kiss on the mountainside. That had been full of desperation and anger on both their parts. This time it was slower, more hesitant, sweeter...

When they finally pulled apart, Jake rested his forehead against hers, both of them breathing more heavily than before.

Working on instinct, he wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her onto his lap. She immediately wrapped her arms tightly around him and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Jake rested his chin on the top of her head, inhaling her pure, untainted scent and clinging to her tightly.

"How about we go slow?" he asked.

It was almost the same offer he had made earlier in the year, to wait and be patient until she had healed the damage done to her by the leech.

"That sounds nice," she whispered into his skin.

He relaxed against her and they sat there together as darkness began to fall and a summer rainstorm pounded on the tin roof of the garage. Outside was turmoil, the leech who wouldn't leave quietly, and his Alpha.

But inside the garage, all was still.

And it was just him and Bella, like it should be.

Together.


End file.
